Medical marijuana dispensary soon to open in Portsmouth

By W. Zachary Malinowski

Monday

May 27, 2013 at 12:01 AM

PORTSMOUTH — Greenleaf Compassionate Care, a medical marijuana dispensary, is just days away from getting a registration certificate from the state that will allow the business to become the state’s second...

PORTSMOUTH — Greenleaf Compassionate Care, a medical marijuana dispensary, is just days away from getting a registration certificate from the state that will allow the business to become the state’s second business to legally sell cannabis.

The 2,800-square-foot post-and-beam building will serve patients on Aquidneck Island.

In mid-May, inspectors from the state Health Department and ranking state police officers toured the dispensary at 1637 West Main Rd. Dara Chadwick, Health Department spokeswoman, said the inspectors concluded that there were “a few issues that must be addressed,” before the building gets the green light.

Seth Bock, co-owner of Greenleaf, said the issues were minor and addressed Thursday. They included getting the certificate of occupancy and showing that the alarm system was working.

Bock hopes to have about 200 patients registered to buy marijuana when the business opens, possibly by next weekend. State law allows patients to designate up to two caregivers or suppliers of marijuana. Greenleaf will host open houses Monday through Friday from 2 to 6 p.m. No marijuana will be sold and visitors must be at least 21 years old.

In Providence, the Thomas C. Slater Compassion Center, 1 Corliss St., has gotten off to a fast start since the 13,750-square-foot business opened its doors on April 19. Chris Reilly, Slater’s spokesman, said that 850 patients have designated the dispensary as a provider of medical marijuana.

Projections filed with the Health Department have Slater reaching 1,000 patients at the end of its first year of operation.

Still, Reilly warned, many patients are using Slater as a “backup” while they continue to get their medicine from other designated sources. Under state law, patients can grow up to 12 plants on their own or get their cannabis from licensed caregivers who are allowed to have up to five patients and grow 24 plants.

Figures from the Health Department show that the number of patients continues to grow while caregiver growth has been stalled. Last week, there were 5,467 patients and 3,592 active caregivers. That’s 81 more new patients and just three more caregivers than there were three weeks ago.

“The patients are grateful to have safe option to access their medicine, and they’ve also provided us with great feedback on how to best meet their needs,” Reilly said. “Although we are only a month into it, it’s working really well.”

Bock, in a recent interview, said he has given some thought to delivering marijuana to patients, but only if there is a demand for the service. Slater, meanwhile, has no plans to make house calls.

The concept has caught on in California. In the San Francisco area, several large-scale dispensaries with thousands of customers have turned to delivery service as a way to avoid federal crackdowns on dispensaries.

“We decided to launch our delivery service because the federal government is trying to seize our properties,” Steve DeAngelo, of Harborside Health Center in Oakland, told the Huffington Post. His business has 95,000 customers and is the biggest marijuana dispensary in the world.

“We wanted to be able to continue serving our patients, even if we have to close our doors,” he said.

Medical marijuana dispensary owners in Rhode Island don’t anticipate being the targets of federal raids, even though marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Last summer, the General Assembly and Governor Chafee approved amended measures limiting to 99 the number of mature marijuana plants a dispensary can have. They also are barred from having more than 1,500 ounces of the drug.

Maine and Rhode Island are the only two states in New England that have medical marijuana dispensaries. Vermont is planning on opening three by July 4, while Massachusetts and Connecticut also are moving toward opening centers later this year.

New Hampshire had been the only state in New England without a medical marijuana program, but that’s about to change.

On Thursday, the state Senate approved an amended version of a House bill that permits up to four dispensaries. The House bill calls for five dispensaries. Now, the legislation returns to the House where representatives can accept or reject the Senate’s changes.

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